The Rise of the Gay Mafia, a Powerful Cabal That Never Existed - Atlas Obscura

Contents:

• HOW THE MOB HELPED ESTABLISH NYC’S GAY BAR SCENE
• INSI A PRISON CELL FOR GAY FORMER GANG MEMBERS EL SALVADOR
• ADAM CAROLLA: THE GAY MAFIA IS REAL
• MOB H MAN OUT OF THE CLOSET: ROBERT MORMANDO IS GAY AND REGRETS LIFE OF CRIME, HIS LAWYER SAYS
• BLACK GAY MAFIA
• THE RISE OF THE GAY MAFIA, A POWERFUL CABAL THAT NEVER EXISTED
• A TE TOUGH GUY: THE MAFIA, GAYS, AND MICHAEL SAM’S BOYIENDLOVG EMBRACEWHEN VO CAMMISANO KISSED HIS BOYIEND ONT OF THE ESPN MERAS, HE MT HAVE KNOWN THE WORLD WOULD FD OUT HIS GRANDFATHER WAS A NOTOR MOB BOSS—BUT HE WASN’T AAID.MICHAEL DALYSPECIAL CORRPONNTUPDATED JUL. 12, 2017 3:34PM EDT / PUBLISHED MAY 15, 2014 5:45AM EDT @VAMMIF THE LATE MOB BOSS WILLIAM “WILLIE THE RAT” CAMMISANO WAS LIKE OTHER MAFSI—AND BY ALL ACUNTS HE MOST EMPHATILLY WAS—HE WOULD HAVE BEEN APOPLECTIC HAD HE BEEN TOLD HIS GRANDSON WAS DATG AN AIN AMERIN. BUT A MAFSO SUCH AS WILLIE THE RAT WOULD HAVE TAKEN THAT AS THE GOOD NEWS BY PARISON WHEN HE HEARD THE RT.FOR HIS GRANDSON’S AIN-AMERIN LOVER ALSO HAPPENS TO BE A MAN, AS THE WHOLE WORLD ME TO LEARN WHEN VO CAMMISANO KISSED FOOTBALL DRAFT PICK MICHAEL SAM ONT OF THE ESPN MERAS.IN DOG SO, VO MT HAVE KNOWN THAT THE PRS WOULD QUICKLY REVEAL HIM TO BE THE GRANDSON OF A NOTOR MAFIA BOSS WHOSE NICKNAME WAS ONCE EXPLAED BY A WNS BEFORE A U.S. SENATE COMMTEE. “BEE HE KILLED PEOPLE AND STUCK THEM THE SEWERS SO THE RATS ULD EAT THEM,” SAID THE WNS, FRED BONADONNA.THE SPONTANEY AND GENUE AFFECTN OF THE KISS ON ESPN MA CLEAR THAT VO WAS NOT AT ALL AAID OF WHAT OTHERS MIGHT SAY ABOUT HIM OR HIS FAY. AND HOWEVER MUCH SOME PART OF WILLIE THE RAT MIGHT HAVE WANTED TO STICK HIS OWN GRANDSON A SEWER, THE LIFELONG GANGSTER ALSO MIGHT HAVE FELT A GDGG RPECT FOR VO.WH A LOVG EMBRACE RATHER THAN A VIC BEATG, THE CAMMISANOS HAD A TE TOUGH GUY. AND RATHER THAN BE SHAMED BY HIS FAY, HE HAD BROUGHT HONOR TO .HERE WERE THE VIRTU OF THE GRANDSON BEG VISED UPON THE GRANDFATHER, ALONG WH THE FATHER AND THE UNCLE. VO’S UNCLE WILLIAM CAMMISANO JR. IS SAID TO HAVE TAKEN OVER AS THE MAFIA BOSS OF KANSAS CY WHEN WILLIE THE RAT DIED OF LUNG NCER 1995. THE UNCLE DID TIME AFTER A 2011 NVICTN FOR OVERSEEG A MULTILN-DOLLAR INTER GAMBLG RG THAT ED A SERVER COSTA RI. HE HAD PREVLY BEEN NVICTED 1978 OF OBSTCTN OF JTICE AFTER A WIRETAP UGHT HIM UNSELG HIS 17-YEAR-OLD GIRLIEND TO LIE ABOUT MONEY BEG PASSED UNR A TABLE TO PAY OFF A BET ON A LAS VEGAS GOLF TOURNAMENT.VO’S FATHER, GERLARMO (JERRY) CAMMISANO, PROVED TO BE A STANDUP GUY THE TRADNAL SENSE BACK 1992, WHEN HE SPENT EIGHT MONTHS BEHD BARS FOR REFG TO TTIFY A MONEY-LNRG SE.“I’D DO ALL AGA,” GERLARMO WAS QUOTED SAYG UPON HIS RELEASE. “THE PUNISHMENT THAT I’VE BEEN THROUGH WAS ELS, BEE I WOULD NOT ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM CHANGE MY BELIEFS.”HE SOUND ALTOGETHER OLD SCHOOL AND ADD, “I’VE SEEN THEM DO TO NE OTHER PEOPLE OF OUR NEIGHBORHOOD. IN MY OPN, IF THEY WANT TO DICT OR VTIGATE, I THK THEY SHOULD E THEIR OWN ROURC AND NOT E IENDS OR FAY TO TTIFY AGAST OTHER FAY.”GERLARMO ALSO WAS NVICTED THE INTER GAMBLG SE. BUT HE WAS OUT OF JAIL TIME TO ATTEND VO’S GRADUATN OM THE UNIVERSY OF MISSOURI 2013. A FACEBOOK PHOTO OM THE EVENT SHOWS THE MANIFTLY PROUD PAPA BEAMG BI HIS SON. THE SON LOOKS EQUALLY PROUD TO BE WH HIS DAD.THE HAPPIT NCLN YOU ULD DRAW OM THIS IMAGE IS THAT GERLARMO KNEW HIS SON’S SEXUAL ORIENTATN AND ACCEPTED AS AN TEGRAL PART OF A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN.BUT EVEN IF GERLARMO WAS NOT YET AWARE THAT HIS SON WAS GAY, HE IS NOW. AND THERE HAVE BEEN NO MBLGS THAT VO IS ANYTHG BUT PLETELY FORTABLE WH HIMSELF AND WH HIS LOVER.WHATEVER THE PERSONAL REPERCSNS FOR VO, THE REVELATN THAT HE IS WILLIE THE RAT’S GRANDSON IS NOT WHOUT HISTORIL SIGNIFINCE. WILLIE THE RAT OPERATED OUT OF A BAR HE NAMED THE EL RENO TAVERN AFTER HIS FAVORE PRISON, BUT THE KANSAS CY MOB ALSO RAN MOST OF THE CY’S GAY BARS BACK THE BENIGHTED TIME WHEN BEG GAY WAS NSIRED A CRIME.THE SAME WAS TE OF THE MOB NEW YORK AND CHIGO AND A DOZEN OTHER CI. THE MOB WAS ABLE TO PAY OFF THE PS TO KEEP GAY BARS OM BEG RAID. THE PATRONS REPAID THE MOB BY BUYG CHEAP LIQUOR AT PREMIUM PRIC, ALONG WH BOOTLEG CIGARETT AND SOMETIM DGS.IN THE 1970S, WILLIE THE RAT SOUGHT TO TABLISH SOME NEW GAY BARS, ALONG WH STRIP CLUBS AND PEEP SHOWS, AN AREA LLED RIVER QUAY THAT A RIVAL MOB ASSOCIATE HOPED TO VELOP TO A PLACE OF LEGIMATE RTRANTS AND SHOPS.THE DISPUTE WAS SETTLED WH SO MANY BOMBS AND BULLETS THAT BOTH PLANS WERE SCUTTLED. THE AD CLUD DAVID BONADONNA, WHOSE SON HAD CLED TO HELP WILLIE THE RAT SECURE LIQUOR LICENS FOR HIS NEW GAY BARS AND STRIP JOTS.“[WILLIE THE RAT] TOLD MY FATHER THAT HE WOULD KILL ME. MY FATHER SAID HE’D HAVE TO KILL HIM FIRST,” FRED BONADONNA TOLD THE U.S. SENATE THE SAME DAY HE EXPLAED THE RIVATN OF THE ELR CAMMISANO’S NICKNAME.BY THEN, A REVOLUTN HAD BEGUN WH THE 1969 RT AT THE MOB-OWNED STONEWALL INN NEW YORK. THE PLACE WAS OWNED BY THE GENOVE CRIME FAY. AND STAGG THE RAID, THE PS SEEM TO HAVE BEEN AT LEAST AS TENT ON PUNISHG THE MOB AS THEY WERE ON HASSLG THE GAY PATRONS.THE MOB SELF REMAED ROLUTELY RISTANT TO THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT. JOHN D’AMATO, ONE-TIME BOSS OF THE DECAVALNTE CRIME FAY, WAS MURRED 1992 AFTER HIS GIRLIEND TOLD OTHER GANGSTERS THAT HE ALSO HAD SEX WH MEN.“NOBODY’S GOG TO RPECT IF WE HAVE A GAY HOMOSEXUAL BOSS STG DOWN DISCSG LA COSA NOSTRA BS,” THE TRIGGERMAN, ANTHONY CAPO, LATER TTIFIED.IN 2009, FORMER GAMBO FAY HMAN ROBERT MORMANDO ME OUT TO A BROOKLYN FERAL JUDGE THROUGH HIS LAWYER, MAKG CLEAR THE DANGER OF BEG GAY THE MAFIA.“HE WAS LIVG HIDG, NOT OM LAW ENFORCEMENT, BUT OM LA COSA NOSTRA,” THE LAWYER TOLD THE URT. “HE HAS BEEN OPENLY GAY SCE HE LEFT THE MOB.”MORMANDO AGREED TO OPERATE WH THE ERNMENT BUT CLED TO GO TO THE WNS PROTECTN PROGRAM, REPORTEDLY BEE HIS LOVER CLED TO SIGN ON.THE CRIME FAY THAT ONCE RAN THE STONEWALL INN FELT THE FORC OF CHANGE 2012, WHEN THE DGHTER OF THE LATE GENOVE BOSS VCENT GIGANTE ME OUT A BOOK. RA GIGANTE SAID SHE HAD NEVER EXPLICLY DISCSED HER SEXUALY WH HER FATHER BEFORE HIS ATH 2006 BUT THAT HE HAD KNOWN SHE WAS A LBIAN. SHE FELT SURE HIS SPR APPROVED WHEN SHE MARRIED HER LOVER LAST YEAR. SHE NTUED TO BRISTLE AT BEG ASSOCIATED WH THE MAFIA BEE OF HER FATHER.“I’M NOT A PRCS! I WORK FOR A LIVG; MY FATHER’S AD, AND WE’RE NOT THE MOB ANYMORE,” SHE SAID.NOW WE HAVE VO CAMMISANO AND THAT PERFECT KISS WH WHICH HE BRAVED BEG SIARLY BRAND WH THE SS OF THE GRANDFATHER AND FATHER.A TE TOUGH GUY SHOWED THE WHOLE WORLD THE VIRTU OF THE GRANDSON. MICHAEL DALY
• THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND THE MOB
• GAY BLACK YOUTHS GO OM ATTACKED TO ATTACKERS
• GAY MAFIA
• THE MAFIA’S ROLE IN THE EVOLUTN OF CIVIL AND GAY RIGHTS IN THE U.S.
• THE VELVET MAFIA: THE GAY MEN WHO HELPED SHAPE MIC THE 60S
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

HOW THE MOB HELPED ESTABLISH NYC’S GAY BAR SCENE

But between New York’s LGBT muny the 1960s beg forced to live on the outskirts of society and the Mafia’s disregard for the law, the two ma a profable, if uneasy, the gay muny blossomed New York Cy the 1960s, members had few plac to gather publicly.

Unr the guise of New York State’s liquor laws that barred “disorrly” premis, the State Liquor Authory and the New York Police Department regularly raid bars that tered to gay the law saw viance, however, the Mafia saw a goln bs opportuny. It was the only place where gay people uld openly dance close together, and for relatively ltle money, drag queens (who received a bter receptn at other bars), naways, homels LGBT youths and others uld be off the streets as long as the bar was open.

INSI A PRISON CELL FOR GAY FORMER GANG MEMBERS EL SALVADOR

“Fat Tony, ” for one, paid New York’s 6th Precct approximately $1, 200 a week, exchange for the police agreeg to turn a bld eye to the “cent nduct” occurrg behd closed Photo<em>An NYPD officer grabs someone by their hair as another officer clubs a young man durg a nontatn Greenwich Village after a Gay Power march New York, 1970. David Carter explas his book Stonewall: The Rts That Sparked the Gay Revolutn, that durg a typil raid, bar owners would change the lights om blue to whe, warng ctomers to stop dancg and drkg.

Sometim the ps even went to the extreme measure of sendg female officers to the bathroom to verify people’s get around laws that prohibed servg alhol to LGBT patrons, many gay bars—cludg the Stonewall—operated ostensibly as “bottle bars, ” private clubs where members would brg their own alhol. Apparently, too many high-powered dividuals—cludg Mafia members, police officers and big Hollywood nam—were implited as Stonewall Inn is a bar loted New York Cy’s Greenwich Village that served as a haven the 1960s for the cy’s gay, lbian and transgenr muny.

Most gay bars and clubs New York at the time were operated by the Mafia, who paid rptible police officers to look the other way and blackmailed wealthy gay patrons by threateng to “out” them. After the Stonewall Rts, a msage was pated on the outsi of the board-up bar readg, "We homosexuals plead wh out people to please help mata peaceful and quiet nduct on the streets of the village. " This sign was wrten by the Mattache Society–an early anizatn dited to fightg for gay reportg the events, The New York Daily News rorted to homophobic slurs s tailed verage, nng the headle: “Homo Nt Raid, Queen Be Are Stgg Mad.

ADAM CAROLLA: THE GAY MAFIA IS REAL

”Over the next several nights, gay activists ntued to gather near the Stonewall, takg advantage of the moment to spread rmatn and build the muny that would fuel the growth of the gay rights movement.

1 / 14: RxSome scholars have argued the famo Stonewall rts that sparked the natnwi LGBT movement were as much a ristance agast the mob’s exploatn of the gay muny as they were a stggle agast police harassment and discrimatory laws. ” Two of the ma gay-rights anizatns that me out of the rts, the Gay Activists Alliance and Gay Liberatn Front, actively champned gettg anized crime out of gay Mafia’s stranglehold on New York Cy’s nightlife bs took a huge h wh a seri of high-profile prosecutns the 1980s. The prison director showed him an isolatn cell, where ne former gang members—om each of the untry’s three ma anized crime groups, MS-13, and two factns of Barr 18—had been moved after g out as gay.

MOB H MAN OUT OF THE CLOSET: ROBERT MORMANDO IS GAY AND REGRETS LIFE OF CRIME, HIS LAWYER SAYS

The source of the origal outcry was an Augt 2011 rant that clud mentary on gay marriage stemmg om Same Street‘s Bert and Ernie gay ntroversy, which Carolla said gay people should “get married and shut up.

More than half of the leadg power brokers Hollywood are Jewish, and about a third of the powerful are homosexual, cludg David Geffen, Ray Stark, Calv Kle, Aaron Spellg, Steve Tisch, Barry Diller and agent Sandy Gall.

BLACK GAY MAFIA

(Geffen, as mor has , is supposed to have been thrilled that the movie a homophobe father beats up his son when he spects him to have had a gay affair wh Kev Spacey’s character, and even more thrilled when is later revealed that the homophobe was actually a reprsed gay. Here is one of Bill Clton’s close supporters, one who had a ee n of the Lln bedroom, and was, I believe, once even lled an adviser to the Draft Dodger, phg a gay agenda of promotg stars and directors who make movi and rerds sympathetic to the gay liftyle. But Buzz, a lively monthly out of Los Angel - 's sort of like Toronto Life but more fun - says s ver story that a lot of people who ph the squeaky-clean, mom-dad-two-kids-pl-dog, relentlsly upbeat Disney image are more than jt cheerful, gang: they're gladly, joyoly gay.

Everyone knows Hollywood is a ''boy's club, '' meang straight men n , but even if the straight boys don't accept someone, there are plenty of gays and lbians to bond wh, and there has even arisen, the media, a phrase, ''the gay Mafia. AT THE start of the film Amerin Bety, Kev Spacey's character, Lter Burnham, says: 'In a year, I will be ad' - and by the movie's end, he is, killed by his reprsed homosexual next- door neighbour.

THE RISE OF THE GAY MAFIA, A POWERFUL CABAL THAT NEVER EXISTED

This held that heterosexualy was a curse to be nigrated and mocked wherever possible, and that gays uld never w the power they craved society whout unrmg heterosexuals whenever possible. On the posive ont, the radil gays argued that homosexuals should be entled to get married the same way as heterosexual upl, and that schools should teach about gay sex as if were no more normal or abnormal than male-female terurse.

The pot of this exercise was to monise normal heterosexual behavur, and to make the ordary ruals of attractn and relatnships seem aberrant, so that gays uld advance their own e by claimg 'straights' led liv that were much worse than theirs. If you're wonrg why homosexuals have skyrocketed recent years to jo blacks and femists at the top of liberalism's hallowed list of "mory groups" entled to special rights and privileg, look no further than Hollywood --- Tseltown is ntrolled the days by the "Gay Mafia.

A TE TOUGH GUY: THE MAFIA, GAYS, AND MICHAEL SAM’S BOYIENDLOVG EMBRACEWHEN VO CAMMISANO KISSED HIS BOYIEND ONT OF THE ESPN MERAS, HE MT HAVE KNOWN THE WORLD WOULD FD OUT HIS GRANDFATHER WAS A NOTOR MOB BOSS—BUT HE WASN’T AAID.MICHAEL DALYSPECIAL CORRPONNTUPDATED JUL. 12, 2017 3:34PM EDT / PUBLISHED MAY 15, 2014 5:45AM EDT @VAMMIF THE LATE MOB BOSS WILLIAM “WILLIE THE RAT” CAMMISANO WAS LIKE OTHER MAFSI—AND BY ALL ACUNTS HE MOST EMPHATILLY WAS—HE WOULD HAVE BEEN APOPLECTIC HAD HE BEEN TOLD HIS GRANDSON WAS DATG AN AIN AMERIN. BUT A MAFSO SUCH AS WILLIE THE RAT WOULD HAVE TAKEN THAT AS THE GOOD NEWS BY PARISON WHEN HE HEARD THE RT.FOR HIS GRANDSON’S AIN-AMERIN LOVER ALSO HAPPENS TO BE A MAN, AS THE WHOLE WORLD ME TO LEARN WHEN VO CAMMISANO KISSED FOOTBALL DRAFT PICK MICHAEL SAM ONT OF THE ESPN MERAS.IN DOG SO, VO MT HAVE KNOWN THAT THE PRS WOULD QUICKLY REVEAL HIM TO BE THE GRANDSON OF A NOTOR MAFIA BOSS WHOSE NICKNAME WAS ONCE EXPLAED BY A WNS BEFORE A U.S. SENATE COMMTEE. “BEE HE KILLED PEOPLE AND STUCK THEM THE SEWERS SO THE RATS ULD EAT THEM,” SAID THE WNS, FRED BONADONNA.THE SPONTANEY AND GENUE AFFECTN OF THE KISS ON ESPN MA CLEAR THAT VO WAS NOT AT ALL AAID OF WHAT OTHERS MIGHT SAY ABOUT HIM OR HIS FAY. AND HOWEVER MUCH SOME PART OF WILLIE THE RAT MIGHT HAVE WANTED TO STICK HIS OWN GRANDSON A SEWER, THE LIFELONG GANGSTER ALSO MIGHT HAVE FELT A GDGG RPECT FOR VO.WH A LOVG EMBRACE RATHER THAN A VIC BEATG, THE CAMMISANOS HAD A TE TOUGH GUY. AND RATHER THAN BE SHAMED BY HIS FAY, HE HAD BROUGHT HONOR TO .HERE WERE THE VIRTU OF THE GRANDSON BEG VISED UPON THE GRANDFATHER, ALONG WH THE FATHER AND THE UNCLE. VO’S UNCLE WILLIAM CAMMISANO JR. IS SAID TO HAVE TAKEN OVER AS THE MAFIA BOSS OF KANSAS CY WHEN WILLIE THE RAT DIED OF LUNG NCER 1995. THE UNCLE DID TIME AFTER A 2011 NVICTN FOR OVERSEEG A MULTILN-DOLLAR INTER GAMBLG RG THAT ED A SERVER COSTA RI. HE HAD PREVLY BEEN NVICTED 1978 OF OBSTCTN OF JTICE AFTER A WIRETAP UGHT HIM UNSELG HIS 17-YEAR-OLD GIRLIEND TO LIE ABOUT MONEY BEG PASSED UNR A TABLE TO PAY OFF A BET ON A LAS VEGAS GOLF TOURNAMENT.VO’S FATHER, GERLARMO (JERRY) CAMMISANO, PROVED TO BE A STANDUP GUY THE TRADNAL SENSE BACK 1992, WHEN HE SPENT EIGHT MONTHS BEHD BARS FOR REFG TO TTIFY A MONEY-LNRG SE.“I’D DO ALL AGA,” GERLARMO WAS QUOTED SAYG UPON HIS RELEASE. “THE PUNISHMENT THAT I’VE BEEN THROUGH WAS ELS, BEE I WOULD NOT ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM CHANGE MY BELIEFS.”HE SOUND ALTOGETHER OLD SCHOOL AND ADD, “I’VE SEEN THEM DO TO NE OTHER PEOPLE OF OUR NEIGHBORHOOD. IN MY OPN, IF THEY WANT TO DICT OR VTIGATE, I THK THEY SHOULD E THEIR OWN ROURC AND NOT E IENDS OR FAY TO TTIFY AGAST OTHER FAY.”GERLARMO ALSO WAS NVICTED THE INTER GAMBLG SE. BUT HE WAS OUT OF JAIL TIME TO ATTEND VO’S GRADUATN OM THE UNIVERSY OF MISSOURI 2013. A FACEBOOK PHOTO OM THE EVENT SHOWS THE MANIFTLY PROUD PAPA BEAMG BI HIS SON. THE SON LOOKS EQUALLY PROUD TO BE WH HIS DAD.THE HAPPIT NCLN YOU ULD DRAW OM THIS IMAGE IS THAT GERLARMO KNEW HIS SON’S SEXUAL ORIENTATN AND ACCEPTED AS AN TEGRAL PART OF A MAGNIFICENT YOUNG MAN.BUT EVEN IF GERLARMO WAS NOT YET AWARE THAT HIS SON WAS GAY, HE IS NOW. AND THERE HAVE BEEN NO MBLGS THAT VO IS ANYTHG BUT PLETELY FORTABLE WH HIMSELF AND WH HIS LOVER.WHATEVER THE PERSONAL REPERCSNS FOR VO, THE REVELATN THAT HE IS WILLIE THE RAT’S GRANDSON IS NOT WHOUT HISTORIL SIGNIFINCE. WILLIE THE RAT OPERATED OUT OF A BAR HE NAMED THE EL RENO TAVERN AFTER HIS FAVORE PRISON, BUT THE KANSAS CY MOB ALSO RAN MOST OF THE CY’S GAY BARS BACK THE BENIGHTED TIME WHEN BEG GAY WAS NSIRED A CRIME.THE SAME WAS TE OF THE MOB NEW YORK AND CHIGO AND A DOZEN OTHER CI. THE MOB WAS ABLE TO PAY OFF THE PS TO KEEP GAY BARS OM BEG RAID. THE PATRONS REPAID THE MOB BY BUYG CHEAP LIQUOR AT PREMIUM PRIC, ALONG WH BOOTLEG CIGARETT AND SOMETIM DGS.IN THE 1970S, WILLIE THE RAT SOUGHT TO TABLISH SOME NEW GAY BARS, ALONG WH STRIP CLUBS AND PEEP SHOWS, AN AREA LLED RIVER QUAY THAT A RIVAL MOB ASSOCIATE HOPED TO VELOP TO A PLACE OF LEGIMATE RTRANTS AND SHOPS.THE DISPUTE WAS SETTLED WH SO MANY BOMBS AND BULLETS THAT BOTH PLANS WERE SCUTTLED. THE AD CLUD DAVID BONADONNA, WHOSE SON HAD CLED TO HELP WILLIE THE RAT SECURE LIQUOR LICENS FOR HIS NEW GAY BARS AND STRIP JOTS.“[WILLIE THE RAT] TOLD MY FATHER THAT HE WOULD KILL ME. MY FATHER SAID HE’D HAVE TO KILL HIM FIRST,” FRED BONADONNA TOLD THE U.S. SENATE THE SAME DAY HE EXPLAED THE RIVATN OF THE ELR CAMMISANO’S NICKNAME.BY THEN, A REVOLUTN HAD BEGUN WH THE 1969 RT AT THE MOB-OWNED STONEWALL INN NEW YORK. THE PLACE WAS OWNED BY THE GENOVE CRIME FAY. AND STAGG THE RAID, THE PS SEEM TO HAVE BEEN AT LEAST AS TENT ON PUNISHG THE MOB AS THEY WERE ON HASSLG THE GAY PATRONS.THE MOB SELF REMAED ROLUTELY RISTANT TO THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT. JOHN D’AMATO, ONE-TIME BOSS OF THE DECAVALNTE CRIME FAY, WAS MURRED 1992 AFTER HIS GIRLIEND TOLD OTHER GANGSTERS THAT HE ALSO HAD SEX WH MEN.“NOBODY’S GOG TO RPECT IF WE HAVE A GAY HOMOSEXUAL BOSS STG DOWN DISCSG LA COSA NOSTRA BS,” THE TRIGGERMAN, ANTHONY CAPO, LATER TTIFIED.IN 2009, FORMER GAMBO FAY HMAN ROBERT MORMANDO ME OUT TO A BROOKLYN FERAL JUDGE THROUGH HIS LAWYER, MAKG CLEAR THE DANGER OF BEG GAY THE MAFIA.“HE WAS LIVG HIDG, NOT OM LAW ENFORCEMENT, BUT OM LA COSA NOSTRA,” THE LAWYER TOLD THE URT. “HE HAS BEEN OPENLY GAY SCE HE LEFT THE MOB.”MORMANDO AGREED TO OPERATE WH THE ERNMENT BUT CLED TO GO TO THE WNS PROTECTN PROGRAM, REPORTEDLY BEE HIS LOVER CLED TO SIGN ON.THE CRIME FAY THAT ONCE RAN THE STONEWALL INN FELT THE FORC OF CHANGE 2012, WHEN THE DGHTER OF THE LATE GENOVE BOSS VCENT GIGANTE ME OUT A BOOK. RA GIGANTE SAID SHE HAD NEVER EXPLICLY DISCSED HER SEXUALY WH HER FATHER BEFORE HIS ATH 2006 BUT THAT HE HAD KNOWN SHE WAS A LBIAN. SHE FELT SURE HIS SPR APPROVED WHEN SHE MARRIED HER LOVER LAST YEAR. SHE NTUED TO BRISTLE AT BEG ASSOCIATED WH THE MAFIA BEE OF HER FATHER.“I’M NOT A PRCS! I WORK FOR A LIVG; MY FATHER’S AD, AND WE’RE NOT THE MOB ANYMORE,” SHE SAID.NOW WE HAVE VO CAMMISANO AND THAT PERFECT KISS WH WHICH HE BRAVED BEG SIARLY BRAND WH THE SS OF THE GRANDFATHER AND FATHER.A TE TOUGH GUY SHOWED THE WHOLE WORLD THE VIRTU OF THE GRANDSON. MICHAEL DALY

The csant need to not only advance their fellow homosexuals but to zealoly protect each other om public scty is bee the "need to mata Ameri's wholome image of them is somethg that nnects Hollywood gays at all levels --- whether one is a stgglg (or a mega- star) actor, wrer, agent, or producer, " Ebner wr.

Homosexual ants mand that their "liftyle" be treated as equal to the tradnal fay, yet most still scpuloly hi their inty, preferrg to do their subversive unrmg of Amerin culture as "closeted" revolutnari. Members of the Mafia do not accept a gay liftyle wh s ranks although there is no specific le that ducte mt accept, like the prohibn om havg an affair wh another gangster's DeCavalnte crime boss John D'Amato was whacked 1992 for beg gay. But there was a time Amerin history when there was a real fear that a gay mafia—known llectively as “homterns”—existed, wieldg ntrol across Hollywood and throughout the arts and entertament dtri.

In his new book Homtern: How Gay Culture Liberated the Morn World, English amic Gregory Woods chronicl the rise of the “homtern, ” explorg how the longstandg fear of homosexual men spurred a century-long paranoia about an alleged gay mafia ntrollg areas of ernment, the arts and amia. In the mid-19th century the pair rrpond about the threat of “perasts”—an antiquated term referrg to men who had sex wh younger men, sce “homosexual” did not yet exist as a label—to their goal of tablishg non-sexual raship between other men.

THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND THE MOB

” This sire to study and fe sexual behavr further phed rearchers to “un-closet” the homosexual, all an effort to mystify a sexual inty that had long been ostracized and stigmatized but never really pned down through scientific quiry. Des later, “homtern” entered Cold War disurse, beg reappropriated by nspiracy theorists that exploed s munist associatn and claimed referred to a longstandg “ternatnal homosexual nspiracy” across the untry, whose one goal was to perate posns the Amerin ernment and urp tradnal Amerin valu of fay and heterosexualy. Wh Amerins fearful of the tonatn of an atomic bomb and a enzy about polics beg overtaken by munist fectors, the elive figure of the homosexual—known but never seen public; closeted but apparently everywhere—was ripe to explo to spire fear.

GAY BLACK YOUTHS GO OM ATTACKED TO ATTACKERS

Woods says that the anxieti around homosexuals Cold War Ameri take some of their orig the social “cleansg” mpaigns enacted Nazi Germany and Soviet Rsia, mpaigns lnched to eradite homosexual men (and other “unwanted” dividuals) om society. The backlash agast homosexuals was only pound by the growg visibily of gay men public life, pecially the arts and entertament dtri, which only pound the ia of an unrground nspiracy of a “gay mafia. ” In 1966, one New York Tim cric mentned the wispread perceptn that bee the men were homosexuals their plays “prent[ed] a badly distorted picture of Amerin women, marriage and society.

Although the men were not “out, ” mors of their sexualy circulated wily Hollywood and galvanized an image of Hollywood beg overn by gay men, many who allegedly wield power and tonomy. All the same, the homtern’s awakeng of fear public life 1950s Ameri monstrat an important narrative, remdg there was a time when the ia of a “gay mafia” lg Hollywood was a legimate ncern. Sunrland acced Banks of "appropriatg gay language" -- which is nfg at bt sce I don't remember "twk" beg a gay slur or a "fed ethnic group" -- and a mockg tweet, asked the sger/rapper: "Do you even know what a twk is?

As a gay black man, I am extremely troubled that her fights are ually set agast gay whe male journalists who are seemgly always tryg to "put her her place" and that Sundarland's article started off wh: "A wise woman named Ldsay Lohan once said, 'I've pissed off a lot of people my time. At the heart of Azealia's media wo is the problem of whe middle-Amerin gay moratens tryg to align/unrstand an artist based black queer urban vernacular is rough and seemgly direct, but what is troublg is that the same people who object to the term "faggot" didn't seem to have a problem twirlg the club to "212" -- a song where she liberally "cunt" and "nigga, " both words she has ed to refer to herself.

GAY MAFIA

I am also tired of seeg the misleadg, click-bay articl gay media about Banks wh no one black voice weighg on as this girl has to fend herself agast what I know for a fact are attempts to distort her character and tentns. The son looks equally proud to be wh his happit ncln you uld draw om this image is that Gerlarmo knew his son’s sexual orientatn and accepted as an tegral part of a magnificent young even if Gerlarmo was not yet aware that his son was gay, he is now.

Willie the Rat operated out of a bar he named the El Reno Tavern after his favore prison, but the Kansas Cy mob also ran most of the cy’s gay bars back the benighted time when beg gay was nsired a same was te of the mob New York and Chigo and a dozen other ci. The patrons repaid the mob by buyg cheap liquor at premium pric, along wh bootleg cigarett and sometim the 1970s, Willie the Rat sought to tablish some new gay bars, along wh strip clubs and peep shows, an area lled River Quay that a rival mob associate hoped to velop to a place of legimate rtrants and dispute was settled wh so many bombs and bullets that both plans were scuttled.

THE MAFIA’S ROLE IN THE EVOLUTN OF CIVIL AND GAY RIGHTS IN THE U.S.

“Nobody’s gog to rpect if we have a gay homosexual boss stg down discsg La Cosa Nostra bs, ” the triggerman, Anthony Capo, later 2009, former Gambo fay hman Robert Mormando me out to a Brooklyn feral judge through his lawyer, makg clear the danger of beg gay the Mafia. The Stonewall was secretly owned by Matthew “Matty the Horse” Ianiello, a high-level poregime (pta) the Genove crime fay who held hidn terts a seri of gay bars and porn stor the Greenwich Village and Tim Square neighborhoods.

Whenever there's trouble around the Chatown and Gallery Place Metro statns the District, the fger of blame often pots to a most unual group of spects: a black gay gang lled Check It. But Bent and his iends live a world where attus toward homosexualy are not always so Pannell, a muny activist who is gay, said he believ that Check It would benef om havg some adult black gay male role mols their liv.

”Jefey Richardson, director of the Office of Gay, Lbian, Bisexual and Transgenr Affairs, agreed that havg posive role mols would be good for Check It, along wh a safe space for them to meet. Group of socially powerful gay men (mostly) and women who dictate fascistic fns of gayns cludg clothg, mannerisms, haircuts, polil views, hot clubs and which blon anorexic is the twk du jour. A New York Tim art cric will always trash heterosexual artists and love stori pecially if is about a mans's love for a woman and even more so the guy mak love to her (they hate that) even if the work is wonrful and always praise gay theater and artists even if horrible.

THE VELVET MAFIA: THE GAY MEN WHO HELPED SHAPE MIC THE 60S

You may not typilly thk of Italian anized crime when you thk of the history of civil and gay rights the Uned Stat, but actually played a semal role their evolutn, if only advertently and untentnally. The problem was discrimatn agast members of the black and gay muni based on race and sexual orientatn, and the solutn was the provisn of plac where members of the muni uld gather safely and effectively. Sce racial miscegenatn and homosexual exprsns and practic were often illegal, and fact segregatn and supprsn were the social and cultural norms through most of the post World War II perd, let’s say om 1945 and onwards through the 1970s, only an anizatn that operated outsi of the law would and uld effectively own and operate venu that hosted a gatherg of black and whe micians, for example, or a gay dance club.

Perhaps the most famo example of such a place was the Stonewall Tavern New York Cy, a club for gay men that was the loc of an uprisg after beg routely raid by the New York Cy Police Department 1969.

As the s of the gay bars and dance venu, the mafia groups were more than willg to open and operate venu that tered to the populatns, valug enomic prof over social, cultural and legal censure. And yet, there is no nyg that the terventn by the mafia to a relatnship between the state and the legimate bs muny on the one hand, and exclud and margalized groups on the other, played a key role the evolutn of gay and civil rights the Uned Stat.

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

It do, however, pot to the need to effectively tease apart — to ‘explo’ other words — the trite set of relatns that formed the stctur that were sential to the velopment and evolutn of gay and black muni the Uned Stat durg the postwar perd, and to the later velopment of more mastream muny buildg and polil activism, and the eventual achievement of social and cultural liberatn and legal legimacy of the muni, the s that followed.

The Stonewall Rts, also lled the Stonewall Uprisg, began the early hours of June 28, 1969 when New York Cy police raid the Stonewall Inn, a gay club loted Greenwich Village New York Cy.

For stance, solicatn of same-sex relatns was illegal New York such reasons, LGBT dividuals flocked to gay bars and clubs, plac of refuge where they uld exprs themselv openly and socialize whout worry.